


young volcanoes

by tiffaniesblews



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Episode: s03e16 The Southern Raiders, F/M, Fluff, Late Night Conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:29:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25053172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiffaniesblews/pseuds/tiffaniesblews
Summary: Both tired, Zuko finds a place for him and Katara to rest before meeting the rest of the Gaang on Ember Island. Zuko comforts Katara who still shaken from her meeting with Yon Rha. Feeling like they did in Ba Sing Se, Zuko and Katara continue opening themselves up to each other.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 141





	young volcanoes

**Author's Note:**

> I wish we got more Zuko and Katara during Southern Raiders, especially since it was such an emotional time for hem both. Also, Zuko never outright tells the Gaang how he got his scar, and I feel like Katara would be the first person he would tell.
> 
> Title comes from Fall Out Boy's "Young Volcanoes"

Zuko glanced back at the girl lying down in the saddle behind him. She was facing away from him, so he had no way of knowing whether or not Katara was actually asleep. He looked forward again, trying to find a safe place to land to get some rest before heading to meet the others on Ember Island. 

“Appa, yip yip,” he said, flicking the reins when he found a small island close to where they are. Appa slowly made his descent.

“Why are you going down?” Katara asked from behind him. He heard her moving and the next thing he knew, she was sitting next to him on Appa’s head. “Why are we landing?”

“Because, Katara,” he replied, guiding Appa towards a clearing, “we’re both tired. We need sleep.” 

“I’m not tired,” she said. As soon as she said that, she yawned. Blinking, she looked at Zuko sheepishly. “Okay… maybe a little tired.” 

Appa landed in the clearing Zuko led him to and helped Katara slide off. He climbed back into the saddle and threw the sleeping bags and their food bag to Katara, who then caught them and placed them on the ground. As Zuko got off Appa, he gave him a pat on the head.

“Thanks, Appa,” he exclaimed. “There’s some nice grass over there you can eat.”

Appa let out a groan and made his way more into the clearing. 

Zuko turned back to Katara who was now walking around the clearing picking up sticks she found laying on the ground. He walked over, helping her quietly. They placed the discarded sticks in a pile and Zuko lit them with his flames. 

Katara opened the food bag and handed Zuko a piece of fruit they took from Yon Rha’s basket. They ate quietly, the only sound the crackle of the fire and Appa chewing on his grass. 

“Do you… want to talk about it?” Zuko said finally. 

Katara shook her head. “No. Not yet.”

“Okay,” replied Zuko. He stared at the fire, watching the flames dance in the night. When it flickered, he would feed it more flames. He looked up at Katara, her knees pulled up to her chest, her blue eyes fixed on the fire. She had taken the ribbon out of her hair, letting it cascade down her back, gently blowing in the wind. 

He thought of what they did, what Katara almost did. She couldn’t bring herself to kill Yon Rha, and Zuko couldn’t help but feel pride. Though there was one part that stood out in his mind.

“Katara,” he called to her. She took her eyes off the fire and looked at him. “On the ship… you did something?”

She raised an eyebrow, signaling to Zuko to elaborate.

“The captain on the ship,” Zuko explained, “you… you were controlling him.”

Katara sighed and looked back at the fire. “Bloodbending.” 

“What is that?” he asked her. Zuko never heard the term before and from what he saw today, he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to experience it. 

"Your blood is like water,” Katara said, “you can bend the blood in a person’s body. It’s a cruel way to control someone.” 

Zuko whistled. “Agni that’s… something.” 

Katara buried her face in her knees. “I hate doing it. I told myself I would never do it again.”

Zuko crawled over to her so that they were now sitting next to each other. “Where did you learn it?”

“An old woman named Hama,” Katara said, sniffing. “She was from the Southern Water Tribe. She was captured in a raid years ago and when she was in prison she found a way to bend blood. She used it to escape and lived in the Fire Nation ever since, using bloodbending to kidnap people during the full moon.” 

“And she taught you?”

Katara nodded. “Yes.”

She didn’t continue. 

Zuko wanted to ask more. Was that the only time she’d done it? If she said she never wanted to bloodbend, then why did she do it today? Why didn’t she do it to Yon Rha? 

Watching her, he saw her shoulders shaking and heard a small sob. She was crying. Tentatively, he reached his hand over and gently placed it on her back. When she didn’t shake him off, he moved closer, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into him. She took her head off her knees, resting her cheek on Zuko’s chest. He wrapped his other arm around her front, as if hugging her to him. Katara choked out another sob, the tears staining Zuko’s tunic. He didn’t say anything to her, just let her cry into him as he stroked her arm with his hand. He heard Appa make his way over, the bison sitting down behind them as if sensing Katara’s distress. 

Katara finally sniffed, moving her head away from Zuko’s chest. He loosed his grip on her, allowing her to move away if she wanted. 

“Thanks,” she said. Instead of moving away, she turned around in his arms, leaning up against his chest, the back of her head against his heart. 

“Oh, uh, you’re welcome,” he replied, not sure what else to do. He kept his arms wrapped around her. She moved her arms so that she was now clinging to Zuko’s arms. 

They sat there, watching the fire die out, embracing each other. Zuko didn’t even want to try and feed it more flames, fearing Katara would leave the comfort of his arms once he moved. He felt her breathing under him, slow and steady. The last time they were this close to each other were in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se. The last time they were this close to each other, he betrayed her. 

“Zuko?” Katara said, glancing up at him. “You okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Your heart beat,” she stated. “It got faster.”

Zuko felt himself go red. How can he tell her it was because he was thinking of her? 

She let go of his arms, moving himself away from him. He thought she was going to leave, but instead she turned around and faced him. 

“What are you thinking about, Zuko?” 

“Ba Sing Se,” he replied. She looked at him, her eyes no longer full of hate like they once were. They were soft, caring. She took his hand in hers.

“Why are you thinking about that?” Katara asked.

“Because I couldn’t help but think that the last time you were vulnerable with me I turned around and hurt you,” he stated. He felt her hand squeeze his.

“You’re not going to betray me again, are you Zuko?” she asked. 

“No,” he rasped back at her. 

She let go of his hand, moving it to his scar. Her thumb gently stroked the part next to his eye. “I almost healed this.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” he replied, placing his hand gently over hers. He was relieved she didn’t pull back. “Then Aang wouldn’t be here.”

“True,” she whispered.

“I never told you how I got this,” Zuko stated, looking her in the eyes. Her blue eyes went wide as she shook her head. Zuko took a deep breath. “It was my father.”

Katara gasped. “What do you mean?”

Zuko removed her hand from his face, bringing it to his lap. He held it in his own, feeling her fingers interlock in his.

“I was thirteen. I went to a war meeting, and the general was talking about risking the lives of new recruits. I got angry, so I spoke out of turn, telling him the plan wasn’t good. I was challenged to an Agni Kai. Thinking it would be the general I spoke to, I accepted. When I got there…”

“It was your father instead, wasn’t it?” she asked gently. 

Zuko nodded. “I begged and pleaded. I got down on my knees just hoping he would forgive me. He called me weak, a shame of a son. And he… burned me.” 

Katara let go of his hand and threw her arms around him, holding Zuko tightly against her. “I’m  _ so  _ sorry, Zuko.”

He hugged her back, feeling her heartbeat quicken against his chest. He felt her hand stroking the back of his head. 

“You didn’t know,” he said, when she finally pulled away from him. “But I think it’s important to understand why I left the Fire Nation.”

Katara nodded. “Yes, it does help.”

They sat in silence again, neither knowing what to say. Appa was snoring soundly behind them. At one point, Katara cuddled up to Zuko, placing her head on his chest, stretching her legs out in front of her. Zuko took his arm, placing it around her shoulders, bringing her as close to him as possible. They sat like that as the night wore on, neither of them wanting to move. Zuko felt the same closeness to Katara that he felt in Ba Sing Se, but this time it was different. This time, he felt like home.


End file.
